Lazarus Pits
by ellayyennayy
Summary: Oliver has to figure out what happened in the missing ten months of his memory and figure out how to tell his loved ones that he isn't dead, again. How will all of this affect the relationship between Oliver and Felicity? And what does it mean for the future of the Arrow?
1. Chapter 1

****No rights reserved. If I owned any part of this show, you can bet it would go a lot differently.**

The last thing that Oliver saw was not the snowy mountains that surrounded him, but the face of a petite blonde girl. He knew her name, but remembering that took too much effort. He closed his eyes and thought about her face for a little bit longer, forgetting the cold enveloping him and the open wound gushing blood from his chest.

••

He opened his eyes and found himself in what looked like a cave. Sitting up and looking around he noticed that he was covered in blankets and that it had to be below freezing outside. Scooting close to the fire, he realized that someone else must be with him because he didn't remember building a fire. Come to think of it, he didn't remember anything. He stood up, shaking off the blankets and strode towards the mouth of the cave. The raging blizzard bit at his shirtless skin, keeping him from getting close to potentially the only exit.

"I wouldn't go out there if I were you." A woman's voice sneered from behind him.

He spun around to see a beautiful, dark haired woman clad in what seemed to be mostly leather. She had two swords sheathed on her back and one at her left hip. He wasn't sure, but he guessed she had plenty more stashed out of sight.

"Who are you?" He asked, taking a step closer.

"Oliver, we've been over this already." She looked concerned. "Don't you remember?"

"Oliver...?" He whispered the name and felt faint memories tugging at him, dancing just out of reach.

"You are Oliver Queen." The woman said, stepping closer to him. "And I am Nyssa."

"Well, Nyssa. Just how exactly did we end up in here? And why can't I remember anything?" Oliver snapped.

"Because you died."

His face fell as memories started flooding back to him. His childhood, Laurel, the boat crash, his father, the island, becoming the Arrow, Felicity. His mind stopped at Felicity.

"How long have I been here, Nyssa? What happened?"

"Oliver, you-"

"How long?!"

"Ten months."

His heart ached. They all must think he's dead; his sister, Diggle, Laurel, Felicity, they all must think Ra's al Ghul killed him.

"Nyssa," Oliver paused. "Did your father kill me?"

"He did," she replied sadly. "But that was not the plan."


	2. Chapter 2

"No, Nyssa. It wasn't the plan." Oliver snapped snidely.

"It seemed to be your plan; you didn't even try to fight, Oliver."

"I-"

"No. You forget, I was there. I watched you fall to your knees and give up, Oliver Queen."

"There was no beating him." Oliver hung his head. "He was too fast, too strong; I never stood a chance. I failed."

"So quick to doubt yourself." Nyssa scolded, pacing a circle around him.

"You know what he's capable of, Nyssa."

"What he was capable of." She corrected.

Oliver spun around to face her. He caught the smug look on her face before she replaced it with her usual calculated one.

"Did you think you slept through ten months?" She laughed.

He shoved her against the wall of the cave, "What happened?!"

"You returned the favor, Oliver." She quietly chuckled.

"What?" He stepped back, letting her go. "I-?"

"Yes, Oliver." She stepped closer, face to face with a panicking Oliver. "You killed Ra's al Ghul."

••

Nyssa left him at a bus stop back in Starling City. He looked around, hoping for some sort of change in his city, but he saw none. Making his way to Verdant, he decided to stay there and lay low for a few days while he figured out what to say to his friends. Once he got there, however, the club was back in business and in full swing. He made his way through the throng of writhing bodies and slipped into the lair without anyone noticing. Oliver was so busy in his own head, he didn't notice her at the computer until it was too late.

"Oliver!" Felicity shouted, jumping up from her computers.

He cringed as she wrapped her arms around him. The only person he absolutely did not want to see yet and of course she would be down here, of course she never stopped looking for him. She stepped back to look at him fully.

"Wow, you disappear for almost a year and in all that time you didn't think to shave?"

He knew she was trying to lighten the mood, but he couldn't even force a laugh for her. He watched her face fall a little; she knew something was wrong.

"Oliver," she paused. "What happened out there?"

The million dollar question, the thing that he'd been trying to piece together for the past month. Nyssa had been a big help, filling in the majority of his missing ten months of memory between the day he died and the day he woke up in that cave with her. None of those memories solidified in his mind, they swirled in and out of a thick fog and he could only barely figure them out based on Nyssa's stories. He still had absolutely no memory of the first two months of being alive, which is when Nyssa said it happened.

In his post death fugue, he'd slaughtered the arrogant Ra's al Ghul. Nyssa told Oliver that she'd brought him back using something called a Lazarus pit that her father didn't know of; she said her father had the last one in existence, or so he thought, but she found another. He climbed out of the pit fueled by a rage she'd only seen in someone who used the pit and she knew Oliver would ruin everything in his path. He'd stalked into Ra's al Ghul's home and found the man immediately. He was shocked to see Oliver, but when he saw the look in his eyes, he knew he did not stand a chance. Nyssa watched from a hidden perch above as Oliver massacred the few Assassins in the room and her father. She threw flash bags to guide his path away from the other Assassins and out into the mountains. He spent months alone, half naked, in the cold, killing everything in his path. Nyssa kept track of him and when the madness passed, she approached him. Always remaining a safe distance away, she slowly talked him back into himself. After months of slow progress, Oliver finally began remembering who he was. She set him up a small camp in the cave and would meet him there every few days to bring him supplies. He gained more memory with each passing month, enough to know who he was, who Nyssa was, but nothing more than that. As the months wore on, he remembered less about the madness and more about himself. She came to the cave and found him sitting beside a small fire, shivering, a sign that his body was mostly his own again. She'd wrapped him in blankets and promised to bring back food, but when she returned, he was standing near the mouth of the cave and remembered nothing once again. He knew the rest of the story.

"Oliver?" Felicity gazed up at him.

"I need some sleep, Felicity."

Her shoulders slumped as she stepped away from him and shut her computers down. She brushed past him without another word.

"Felicity," he gently grabbed her arm. "Please don't say anything yet."

She turned back, her face softening, she nodded her head and he let go of her. He watched her make her way up the stairs, every part of him wanting to follow her, to shower her with kisses and tell her that everything would be okay. Instead, he turned back to the empty room and made his way to the makeshift bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, there's been so much positive feedback for this story, I'm SO glad you guys like it. I'm trying to push out updates daily, so please give me some reviews if there are things you especially like or that you dislike.**

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Felicity closed the door and leaned against it; tears spilling down her cheeks, she risked a sob, knowing the loud music would cover it. She made her way through the club, bumping into more than a few people who shot her dirty looks. She couldn't be bothered to apologize. Oliver was back, whole and unharmed; he was back and he was acting so distant. She spent eleven months thinking he was dead, searching for him everywhere. She had alerts set for all of his accounts, his cards, his passport, everything she could think of. She'd been rechecking all of her alerts for the seventh time when he crept into the lair behind her. She wouldn't have known he was there if she hadn't turned to get her phone. He looked so tired; his eyes darker, his face pale and gaunt.

She wanted to wrap him up in her arms and keep him safe from ever being hurt again and, before she knew it, she had him in her arms. She hadn't meant to, but it felt so good to know that he was really there, that she wasn't imagining him again. He wouldn't meet her gaze for a while, but when he did, she knew that he'd been through so much worse than what the island put him through.

She pictured so many horrific scenes in her head as she drove home, hoping that none of them had actually happened to him. By the time she got there, she'd worked herself up so much she was crying again. She forced the thoughts out of her mind and made her way to the bathroom, hoping a long hot bath would help her relax. Unfortunately, as she soaked, all she thought of was Oliver and how he probably couldn't relax. She couldn't stand it anymore. She jumped out, dressed herself and got back in her car. She was going to make him talk to her.

••

Oliver was tossing and turning on the little cot. He tried to pretend it was the blaring music upstairs keeping him up, but really it was Felicity. He wanted so desperately to hold her, to bury his thoughts in the hope that everything would be okay as long as she was beside him; but he couldn't put all of that on her. She deserved to be happy and away from all of the danger that he surrounded himself with.

He flopped himself onto his left side, facing the wall, and closed his eyes, determined to go to sleep this time. A faint click at the top of the stairs had him jumping up and hiding behind some boxes. He watched as Felicity made her way down the stairs, a faint smile on her face; it fell when she saw the empty room. Oliver couldn't stand to see her so unhappy, but wouldn't it be worse if he let himself actually fall for her? Wouldn't she just get hurt in the end? Before he could stop himself, he stood up and walked out from behind the boxes.

"I was worried you were someone else." He explained.

"Oh," she paused. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"No, I just didn't know if Diggle or Roy still came down."

"They do, but not at this hour. Roy's helping Thea run the club right now and John is with the baby."

"Lyla?"

"She's on an assignment, a short one, but she won't be back for about a week."

"Felicity, I-"

"Oliver, you can't keep holding everything in."

"I just want to protect you."

"I can take care of myself. I appreciate the gesture, I do, but I am a grown woman; I don't need you to sugar coat things or-"

"I died, Felicity."

Felicity stared at him, stunned.

"I died, and the last thing I saw was you. I love you, Felicity."

"What do you mean, you died?" Felicity asked, falling onto her desk chair.

"Ra's al Ghul stabbed me through the chest and I bled out."

He spent the next few hours telling her the entire story. Felicity was right, she could handle the truth, and if he wanted to continue to protect her then she needed to know what exactly was going on. He put his arms around her when she cried and he laughed when she tensed with jealousy as he described the months of help from Nyssa. When he finished the story, she stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry, Oliver." She whispered.

"It's over now. Ra's al Ghul is dead, the League of Assassins has no reason to come back to Starling City and Thea is safe."

"What about Malcolm?" Felicity asked, stepping back.

"I don't think that he would actually hurt Thea."

"He already put her life in danger with the most dangerous man out there." Felicity quipped.

"He did that to save himself." Oliver grunted. "He owed debts and instead of paying them, he used my sister to get me to do his dirty work for him."

Felicity watched Oliver's face harden.

"What are you thinking?" She asked nervously. "Oliver, you can't kill your sister's father."

"I'm not going to kill him, but he thinks I'm dead, what better time to pay him a visit?"


	4. Chapter 4

Felicity jogged to keep up with Oliver as he strode across the room.

"Oliver, you can't go traipsing into Malcolm's house at two in the morning and threaten to kill him."

"He came traipsing into my life and almost killed my sister, and he _did_ get me killed."

"Okay, well, that is a good point, but-"

"No, 'buts'." Oliver started pulling his pants off. "I think it's time Malcolm remembers who he's dealing with."

Felicity had nothing to say, she was too busy staring at Oliver in his boxers. Boxer briefs? Honestly, she didn't care what they were called, she could most definitely see his dick and that was way too distracting for her to argue with him anymore. He stripped his shirt off and the view got even better. Luckily, Oliver was concentrating too much on the task at hand to notice Felicity openly gazing at his mostly naked body.

He pulled the pants of his Arrow suit on first and, wow, how had she never noticed how tight they were before?

"Felicity, can you-"

"Yeah!" She jumped, "What do you need?"

He laughed, "Were you just-?"

"I just remembered, I have to go! Work related stuff; anyway, good luck with Malcolm!"

She ran out before Oliver could say anything else. He laughed again and finished putting his suit on.

••

Felicity came back the next morning to find Oliver on the computer. She set a bag of bagels and some coffee beside him and watched as he typed much slower than she could.

"What are you looking for?" She asked as she pulled a bagel out for herself.

"Malcolm isn't in the city."

"Oh. Need any help?"

He turned the chair around and looked up at her.

"Please?" He asked, making puppy eyes at her.

She laughed and shooed him away so she could sit and search. Two hours later and she still had nothing. Oliver came back with lunch he made in the club's kitchen upstairs and tried to help brainstorm while they ate. She started searching again afterwards, but kept getting distracted by Oliver working out.

"You know, I think he might just be gone and we should just be happy that he is."

"Felicity," He stopped his pull ups and jumped down. "He will come back."

"And we can deal with him then. Let's just go tell everyone that you're back and still alive. I know Thea would be ecstatic. She still thinks you're on some weird soul searching trip."

"That's the best you guys could come up with?" He chuckled. "What would you have told her if I'd stayed dead?"

Felicity's face fell and he immediately regretted his attempt at a joke.

"Sorry. Too soon?"

"Way." She said, looking back down at her computer.

He walked over to stand behind her and spun her chair around. She crossed her arms and looked up at him, determined to stay irritated. He crouched so they were eye to eye.

"Felicity." He said lowly.

The way he said her name made her insides melt. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned her head to the side.

"You're the only one that knows I'm back for now, the only person I can hang out with. If you're mad then I have to hide down here and work out alone."

"Or you could just tell your friends that you're alive."

"I can't just quite yet," he paused. "I have to give her a few more days."

"What? Who?"

"Nyssa. The League knows I killed Ra's al Ghul; technically I'm supposed to take over. I have to pretend to be dead for a little while longer so she can take over instead."

"So what are you going to do until then? Hide down here and work out alone? You can't make any more late night Arrow trips, they'll know."

"I guess you'll just have to keep me company." He winked at her then walked back over to do more pull ups.

She watched him work out for another hour, pretending to do things on the computer, when they heard the door to the lair open. Oliver jumped behind the boxes and Felicity turned to see who it was.

"Hey, Felicity." Diggle said as he made his way down the steps with a diaper bag over his shoulder and a car seat in his left hand.

She got up and took the car seat out of his hands, but Sara wasn't in it. Diggle turned around and Felicity saw the girl sleeping peacefully in a kangaroo bag on his back.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, gently stroking the baby's cheek a few times.

"Just coming to check in. Found anything?"

"Uh, no. Still nothing; it's amazing how slow news is when you want it."

Diggle gave Felicity a look, "How long are you going to stay down here?"

"Not long, I'm just going to check all of my alerts and set it up so it can alert me on my computer at home so I don't have to come back for a few days."

Diggle nodded, they talked for a little while and after the conversation died, he said his goodbyes and struggled his way back up the steps and out the door.

"You are a terrible liar, Felicity." Oliver laughed as he came out from his hiding spot.

Felicity laughed along with him because she knew it was true, she hated lying to John anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

They spent the afternoon talking about how to tell everyone about Oliver being not dead and Felicity caught him up on everything he missed while he was gone. When they finally stopped talking, they realized the club was open and blaring music again.

"Well, I guess I should go home, I do still have a job to get to." She sighed.

"Wait." Oliver stood up and grabbed her hand. "Don't go."

She saw the loneliness written all over his face; she didn't really _have_ to go to work. She called Ray and told him she'd be working at home for the next few days again; he'd been letting her do it for a while because of Oliver's "disappearance".

"I'm your company for the next few days then, Mr. Queen." She smiled.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her genuinely smile at him without a hint of sadness.

"Well, Ms. Smoak, what should we do then?"

"I don't know." She said, scrunching her face. "We're stuck down here."

Oliver stepped closer to her and put his hand on her waist. She laughed as he twirled her and started dancing with her.

"Shouldn't there be music for dancing?" She laughed as she slipped away from him.

He watched as she brought up a playlist of music on the computer and turned back to him, a huge smile on her face.

"That's better."

They danced around the room, laughing and talking until the music ran out.

"We could always go hide in the crowd upstairs and dance." Felicity suggested.

"I don't want to risk running into Thea or Roy. Besides, we have plenty of things to do down here."

She looked up at him quizzically, realizing for the first time how close they actually were. His arms were wrapped tightly around her, squeezing her body tightly to his, their shapes fit perfectly together. She pushed up onto her toes and planted a quick, chaste kiss on his lips. His hand slowly traveled up her spine to the nape of her neck, gently pulling her back for a longer kiss.

"Oliver." She whispered breathlessly, pulling back.

He swept her legs up in his arm and carried her to the cot, kissing her quickly before setting her down. She slipped her hand beneath his shirt and tugged at his hip, pulling him on top of her before she hauled his shirt over up to his shoulders. He jerked the shirt over his head and threw it elsewhere as he watched Felicity kiss every scar she could see.

"Oliver, if we finally do this, and you "die" again," She looked up at him, "I may just kill you myself."

He laughed and leaned down so that they were face to face.

"Felicity, I promise to not "die" again," he laughed as he imitated her air quotes.

He slowly unzipped the back of her dress, flashing her his biggest smile. Without missing a beat, she unfastened his belt and whipped it off of him. She smirked as she folded it in half and snapped it; he stared at her in surprise as she giggled and tossed the belt aside. She leaned forward and captured his mouth with hers as she slipped her dress off and reached for his waist. He fumbled with his zipper and jumped when Felicity jerked his pants off just as he finished undoing them. She wasted no time and made quick work of removing his boxers as well before she straddled him and kissed him hard.

"We have all night, Felicity." He laughed.

"I've waited so long for this Oliver, I don't want to wait any longer."

She started rocking her hips and kissing him again, the thin fabric of her lace underwear already soaked. He groaned as his hips shifted up to meet her thrusts, then suddenly she was gone. He opened his eyes to find her pulling a condom out of her purse having already done away with her bra and underwear. His eyes traveled slowly up her lean body, drinking in every curve and muscle. He'd seen her training with Diggle, but didn't realize how effective it was until just then. She sauntered back over to him, savoring the view of his toned, naked body. He stood, wrapped his arms around her, and placed her beneath him on the cot. She tugged the corner of the condom wrapper, but he took it from her and set it down, shaking his head.

She opened her mouth to protest but lost the words when his head dipped between her thighs. A soft moan escaped before she screwed her mouth shut and whimpered from her throat. Oliver looked up and pulled at her chin with his thumb before leaning back down to kiss a trail from her belly button to her core. He'd spent so many nights imagining what she would taste like and it was no comparison. He longed to bury himself inside of her, but he waited until he'd coaxed her to orgasm with his lithe tongue.

She hadn't had an orgasm that powerful in quite a while, but before she had a chance to savor it Oliver had slipped on the condom and pushed himself in side of her. She moaned gratefully, feeling her body wind up again. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him deeper inside of her, eliciting a sharp gasp from Oliver. It still wasn't enough for her, so she grabbed his shoulders and flipped them so that she was on top.

Oliver was surprised at the sudden change, but not unhappy with it. He watched as Felicity rocked her hips against him, luxuriating in the feel of her. He pushed his hips to meet her thrusts and new he was about to lose it. He gently rubbed his thumb across her clit to spur her on. She whimpered as her pace quickened; he could feel her getting closer to orgasm once again. She shouted his name when she did and feebly thrust a few more times against him as he came, whispering her name in response.

She fell onto his chest, knowing she was just as sweaty as him. He kissed the top of her head.

"Next time, we can take our time." She whispered.

"Next time." He smiled, kissing her again as she started to fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Felicity woke with a start, the room around her still very dark. She wasn't sure what woke her until she glanced down beside the cot. Oliver laid sprawled out on the concrete floor, having slid off the cot in his sleep. Felicity giggled as she slid herself down on top of him, avoiding touching the cold concrete with her sleep-warm body.

"Oliver." She whispered, laying her face against his shoulder.

His eyes were open before he was fully awake. He looked up at her, confused, as she propped herself on her elbow atop his chest.

"Felicity," he paused and watched her raise an eyebrow, "why are we on the floor?"

"Is your cute butt cold?" She giggled.

He smiled at her and, before she knew it, he'd lifted her up and held her bridal style over the cot. She yelped in surprise and laughed as he gently placed her back down. She watched him walk across the room, still fully naked. He picked his watch up from the desk; they'd been enjoying each other and sleeping on and off since she called to get out of work yesterday morning, or maybe it was still the same day, it felt like an eternity of time to her.

"It's getting late." Oliver sighed, breaking her from her thoughts.

She froze. "Do you want me to go?"

"No." He quickly responded, walking back to her.

He cupped her face in his hand and scooted back onto the cot beside her. "I don't ever want you to go, Felicity."

She smiled, "Good, me too."

She snuggled closer and rested her forehead against his collarbone, draping her leg, along with the sheet, over his waist. He ran his hand through her hair and let it rest at the back of her neck as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Well this is new."

They both jumped at the voice. Oliver turned and silently thanked Felicity for inadvertently throwing the sheet over his bare ass. He pulled her closer behind him and tugged the sheet tighter around them.

"Dig." Oliver floundered, speechless. "Dig." He repeated, opening and closing his mouth while making small hand gestures.

Felicity couldn't help laughing at how ridiculous Oliver looked. John laughed with her and Oliver shut his mouth and tried to look mad.

"I came to see if you were still down here," John explained through his fading laughter.

"You knew already." Oliver said thoughtfully.

"I knew something was up, I didn't think it was this. I can't say I'm surprised, though, Oliver, you're hard to kill." He paused. "So what happened?"

John turned around as Oliver stood from the cot and put his boxers back on. They walked up the stairs together. Felicity only caught the first bit of their conversation.

"You can't run out and die on her, Oliver. It's hard enough just as your friend."

"I don't plan on it, Dig."

"I can't believe it took you two this long."

Felicity smiled and watched as Oliver walked Diggle out and probably promised to explain everything tomorrow. He rushed back to her and snuggled back on the cot.

"Tomorrow, we tell everybody." He smiled.

"That you were never dead?"

"That I'm finally alive." He kissed her forehead.


End file.
